B 

■ft* 





PRESENTED BY 



POEMS IN HONOR OF 
FRANCIS BACON 



A TRANSLATION OF 

THIRTY-TWO LATIN POEMS 

IN HONOR OF 

FRANCIS BACON 

PUBLISHED BY RAWLET 

IN 1626 



BOSTON 

PRIVATELY PRINTED 

1904 






/5fe^X 






The following translation of the Rawley-Bacon 
poems is from the text in Harleian Miscellany, x, 
pp. 287 ff., London, 1813, a reprint of the editio 
princess by John Hayiland, London, 1626. 

Attention has also been paid to an article by 
H. Meurer, TextJcritiJc und Beitrdge zur JEJrJcldrung 
von " Die Rowley' sclie Sammlung von 32 Trauerge- 
dichten auf Francis Bacon, herausgegeben von 
George Cantor, Halle, 1897," in Anglia 24 (1901) 
pp. 100 ff. In this article Meurer offers a criticism 
of Cantor's text, which was taken from the Harleian 
Miscellany (=A), with comparison of the edition of 
Bacon by John Blackbourne, London, 1730 (=B), 
and gives for various passages the readings of the 
original Haviland edition, besides those of A. and 
B. He incorporates also (p. 112) the criticisms in a 
review of Cantor's edition by Hermann Hagen in 
Lit. Gentralblatt, 1897, p. 1530. 

Of no significance for the text is the edition, with 
introduction, by Edwin Bormann^Zter historische 
Beweis der Bacon- Shakespeare -Theorie erbracht 
durcli das Zeugniss von siebenundzwanzig Zeitge- 
nossen des Dichter- Gelehrten, Leipzig, 1897. 



[6] 

The most convenient and least expensive recent 
edition is that of Cantor referred to above, as cor- 
rected by Hagen and Meurer, — G. Cantor: Die 
Rowley 'sche Sammlung von zweiunddreissig Trau- 
ergedichten auf Francis Bacon, ein Zeugniss zu 
Ghansten der Bacon - Shakespeare - Theorie, Halle, 
1897. The same author had previously published a 
translation of the thirty-second poem in his Resur- 
rectio JDivi Quirini Francisci Baconi, Halle, 1896. 

E. K. Eaxd. 

Harvard University, 1903. 



MANES VERULAMIANI 



[8] 



Memoriae Honoratissimi Domini Francisci, 

Baronis De Verulamio, Vice-Comitis Sancti 

Albani, Sacrum. 

Londini In OJlcina Johannis Haviland, 1626. 



[9] 



[Harl. Misc. x, p. 287.] 

Sacred to the Memory of the Most Honorable Sir, 
Francis Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Alban. 

London, at the press of John Haviland, 1626. 



[10] 

Franciscus Bacon JBaro De Verulam S. te Alb. ni Vic.™ 

Sen Notioribus Titulis 

Scientiarum Lumen, Facundim Lex 

Sic Sedebat. 



Qui Postquam Omnia Naturalis Sapiential 

Et Civilis Arcana Fvolvisset 

Natural Decretum Explevit 

Composita Solvantur 

An. Dm MDC. XXVI. 

Aetat.^LXVI. 

Tanti Viri 

mem. 

Thomas Meautys 

Superstitis Cultor 

Defuncti Admirator 

H.P. 



[11] 

1 Francis Bacon Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, 

Or by titles still better known. 

The Light of the Sciences, the Norm of Eloquence. 

Thus took his rest. 



He, after that he had unfolded all the secrets 

Of natural and civic lore, 2 

Fulfilled the decree of Nature 

(Let his frame now dissolve) 3 

In the year of our Lord MDCXXVI. 

At the age of LXVI. 

To the Memory 

Of so great a Man 

Thomas Meautys 

Friend of the Living 

Admirer of the Lead 

Has set this Monument. 



1 Translation of the inscription on the marble erected by Sir Thomas 
Meautys in the chapel of St. Michel's Church, Old Verulam. 

2 i. e. of philosophy and jurisprudence. 

3 composita solvantur. Composita, ' his united, ordered parts,' i. e. ' his 
frame.' Or (cf. Horace's omnes composui, Sat. i. 9, 28) ' his buried 
remains.' Possibly solvantur =' be released,' i. e. at the resurrection. 



[12] 

Lectori 8. 

Quod prsecipium sibi duxit honoratissimus Dominus meus, 
Vice-Comes Sancti Albani, academiis et viris literatioribus ut 
cordi esset, id (credo) obtinuit ; quandoquidem insignia haec 
amoris et moestitiae monumenta indicant, quantum amissio 
ejus eorundem cordi doleat. Neque verb parca manu sym- 
bolum hoc conjecerunt in eum musae ; (plurimos enim, eosque 
optimos versus apud me contineo;) sed quia ipse mole non 
delectabatur, molem baud magnam extrusi. Satis etiam sit, 
ista veluti fundamenta, prsesentis sseculi nomine, jecisse ; fa- 
bricam (puto) hanc exornabit et amplificabit unumquodque 
sseculum; cuinam autem saeculo ultimam manum imponere 
datum sit, id Deo tantum et fatis manifestum. 

G. Rawley, S. T. D. 



[13] 



To the Reader. 

That which my most honored Master, the Viscount St. Alban, 
thought of the highest concern, namely to win the favor of 
Academies and Men of Letters, this, methinks, he has ob- 
tained. For the present illustrious memorials of love and 
grief indicate how great a sorrow his loss has brought to the 
hearts of such. No, verily, the Muses have not thrown to 
him 1 this contribution 2 with sparing hand — for very many 
verses, and those most excellent ones, I keep in my posses- 
sion. 3 But as he himself delighted not in piles of things, 
no great pile have I raised. Be this, moreover, enough, to 
have laid, as it were, the foundations, in the name of the 
present age. Every age, methinks, will adorn and amplify 
v this structure: though to what age it is vouchsafed to set 
the finishing hand — this is known only to God and to the 

Fates. 

G. Rawley, S. T. D. 



1 conjecerunt in eum : probably the idea is, ' heaped upon his grave.' See 
Meurer, p. 108. 

2 symbolum : probably, as Meurer shows (p. 108), with the meaning of 
symbola, ae, * a scot, or contribution to a feast.' It is a kind of sympo- 
sium. Or, the word may have its ordinary meaning of ' token.' It has 
no arcane connotation, such as Bormann (p. 10) reads into it. 

8 A consolation for those contributors whose verses were too bad to 
publish. 



[14] 



Deploratio Obitus omnia doctissimi et clarissimi 
Viri D. Francisci Bacon S. Albanensis. 

Albani plorate lares, tuque optime martyr, 
Fata Verulamii non temeranda senis. 
Optime martyr et in veteres i tu quoque luctus, 
Cui nil post dirum tristius amphibalum. 



[15] 



Lament for the Death of the all-learned and eminent 
Man, Sir 1 Francis Bacon of St. Alban. 

Mourn, ye Alban Lares, and thou good Martyr, 2 the hallowed 
demise 3 of the old man of Verulam. Aye, good Martyr, raise 
thou too the old lament, to whom nothing has been sadder, 
next to thy dire cloak. 4 



1 I take Dominus here and in most of the headings to denote the title 
* Sir ' given to a B. A. of Cambridge. (See Cent. Diet. s. v. dominus 
and sir.) This whole collection of poems is a kind of bouquet from 
Cambridge, especially Trinity College, from which Bacon was grad- 
uated. * Lord ' however, is a possible translation, as Bacon was Lord 
Chancellor. Or, again, the Sir may refer to his knighthood. 

2 St. Alban, protomartyr of England. 

3 fata non temeranda, lit. * the fate which none may desecrate.' Fatum 

has its ordinary meaning, yet appears also to connote sepulcrum, the 
tomb, its outer sign. The phrase is practically equivalent to cineres 
sacros in Poem 4, near end. 

4 Alban exchanged his cloak with that of a fugitive Christian, who thus 
escaped his pursuers, whereas Alban was martyred by them. The 
story is told by Gildas and Bede. See Baring Gould, Lives of the 
Saints, June 22. 



[16] 
II 

Baconi Opera literaria vocantur ad Bogum. 

Instauratio magna ; dicta acute ; 
Augmentum geminum scientiarum, 
Et scriptum patrie et dein Latine 
Auctu multiplied profunda vitaa 
Mortisque historia, ut lita anne lota 
Rivo nectaris Atticive mellis ! 
Henricus neque Septimus tacetor ; 
Et quicquid venerum politiorum, et 
Si quid praeterii inscius libellum 
Quos magni peperit vigor Baconi. 
Plus novem edecumata musa musis, 
Omnes funebribus subite flammis, 
Et lucem date liquidam parenti. 
Non sunt saecula digna quae fruantur 
Vobis, ah Domino (ah nefas) perempto. 

S. Collins, R. C. P. 



[17] 
II 

The Literary Works of Bacon are called to the Pyre, 

Instauratio Magna; 1 subtle sayings ; 2 a twofold increase of 

the sciences, written both in thy country's speech and then in 

Latin with multifold enlargement ; 3 profound history of life 

and death, 4 anointed as it were, or rather bathed, with stream 

of nectar or with Attic honey ! Nor must the seventh Henry 6 

fail of mention, or if aught there be of more cultured loves, 6 

aught that I unwitting have passed over of the works which 

the vigor of great Bacon hath produced 7 — a Muse more 

choice than the nine Muses. Ascend ye [Muses] all, the 

funeral flames and give to your parent 8 liquid light. The 

ages are not worthy to enjoy you, when alas, (oh monstrous 

shame !) your Lord is taken away. 

S. Collins, E. C. P. 

(Rector of King's College, Cambridge.) 



1 Alluding to Bacon's work of this name. 

2 The Apothegms (?). 

8 The Advancement of Learning, in its twofold edition (English and Latin). 
4 The Historia Vitce et Mortis. 
6 The History of Henry VII. 

6 i. e. stories of love more spiritually interpreted, as in 'de principiis atque 
originibus secundum Fabulas Cupidinis et Caeli (?). Cf. also the general 
method of de Sapientia veterum. 

7 Punctuate : Baconi, — Musis. 

8 i. e. Bacon. The above lines suggest the conception of the Muses and 
of Philosophy in Boethius, Consolatio Philosophic. 



[18] 



ni 



In Obitum incompardbilis Francisci, Vicecomitis 
Sancti Albani, Baronis Verulamii. 

Dum longi lentique gemis sub pondere morbi 

Atque haeret dubio tabida vita pede ; 

Quid voluit prudens fatum, jam sentio tandem : 

Constat, Aprile uno te potuisse mori : 

Ut flos bine lacrymis, illinc Pbilomela querelis. 

Deducant linguae funera sola tuae. 

Georgius Herbert. 



[19] 
III 

On the Death of the Incomparable Francis, Viscount 
St Alban, Baron Verulam. 1 

The while thou didst groan beneath the burden of a long and 

lingering malady, and pining life halted with uncertain foot, 

what did wise fate intend ? 2 I now at last can see. Only in 

April, surely, couldst thou die, that here the flower with its 

tears, there Philomel 3 with her laments, may follow only thy 

tongue's funeral-train. 4 

George Herbert. 



1 This poem is translated into German by G. Cantor. Op. cit., p. xy. 

i Punctuate : pede . . . fatum ? Jam . . . 

8 the nightingale. 

4 i. e. may devote all their laments to you. 



[20] 

IV 

In Obitum honor atissimi Viri ac Domini, D. Fran- 

cisci de Verulamio, Vicecomitis Sancti Albani, 

nuperi Anglice Cancellarii. 

Adbuc superbis insolente purpura 

Feretri rapinis inclytos in tot viros 

Sterile tribunal? cilicio dicas diem, 

Saccumque totam facito luxuriem fori. 

A Themide libra nee geratur pensilis, 

Sed urna, praegravis urna VERULAMII. 

Expendat. Eheu! Ephorus baud lancem premit, 

Sed Areopagus ; nee minor tantus sopbos, 

Quam porticus braccbata. Nam vester scholae, 

Gemiscit axis, tanta dum moles ruit. 

Orbis soluta cardo litterarii, 

Ubi studio coluit togam et trabeam pari. 

Qualis per umbras ditis Euridice vagans 



[21] 

IV 

On the Death of the most honored Man and Lord, 1 

Sir 2 Francis of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban, 

late Chancellor of England? 

Art thou still proud in insolent purple when the bier has 
robbed so many famed men, 4 thou barreD court? Thou 
shouldst give the day to haircloth and make to sackcloth all 
the pomp of the bar. Nor let Themis bear the hanging 
scales, but the urn, the weighty urn of Verulam. Then let 
her weigh. 5 Alas, not Ephorus tips the beam, but Are- 
opagus. Nor is so great a sage less than the barbarian 
porch ; 6 for your axis groaned, ye schools, when fell so great 
a pile ; the very vault 7 of the world of letters was dissolved, 
wherein, with equal zest, he graced the civic and the royal 
robe. 8 Even as Eurydice, wandering through shades of Dis, 

1 domini, in a general sense : something like ' gentleman.' 

2 domini, in the sense noted on p. 4, n. 1. 

8 The writer of this poem is an admirer of Juvenal, and catches at least 

the difficulties of that author's style. 
4 lit. * at the bier's plundering against so many famed men.' 
6 cf. Juvenal, Sat. x. 147. 

6 Portions brac(c)ata (bracchata is a misprint) denotes the scholastic phi- 
losophy, for which ' barbarian porch ' is an apt designation. Meurer, 
p. 101, with less point adopts a contemporary sense of braccatus, sleeved. 

7 cardo, V. Harper's Lex. 1 B 2 ; the phrase then means, continuing the 
astronomical figure in axis, 'the whole heavens fell in.' Meurer, how- 
ever, p. 109, restricting the meanings of both cardo and orbis litterarii, 
may be right in rendering ' eurer litterarischer Kreis geht aus den An- 
geln' ('Your literary circle goes off the hooks'). To Bormann, p. 15, 
cardo = Theaterdrehmaschine. 

8 togam el trabeam, i. e. civil law and the history of princes (Henry VII.). 
Or it may refer to the lower and higher parts of philosophy, the prac- 
tical and the speculative. Meurer, p. 109, translates 'Richter und 
Rittertracht ' (' robe of judge and of knight '). 



[22] 

Palpare gestiit Orpheum, quali Orpheus, 
Saliente tandem (vix prius crispa) Styge, 
Alite fibras lyrae titillarit manu ; 
Talis plicata philologwn aenigmatis 
Petiit Baconum vindicem, tali manu 
Lactata cristas extulit philosophia : 
Humique soccis repitantem comicis 
Non proprio ardelionibus molimine 
Sarsit, sed instaurarit. Hinc politiiis 
Surgit cothurno celsiore, et organo 
Stagirita virbius reviviscit novo. 

Calpen superbo Abylamque vincit remige 
Phoebi Columbus, artibus novis novum 
Daturus orbem ; promovet conamina 
Juvenilis ardor, usque ad invidiam trucem 
Fati minacis. Quis senex vel Hannibal, 
Oculi superstitis timens caliginem, 
Signis suburram ventilat victricibus? 
Quis Milo multus quercubus bilem movet, 
Senecta tauro gibba ciim gravior premit ? 



[23] 

longed to caress her Orpheus, and even as with winged hand 
— the while Styx leaped at last, scarce ruffled before — he 
strummed 1 the fibres of his lyre, so did Philosophy, involved 
in scholars' 2 riddles, call Bacon to her rescue ; so by his touch 
entranced, 3 she reared her crest : and as she crept along the 
ground in comic sock, he did not succor 4 her with some de- 
vice 5 that gossips would approve, 6 but made her wholly new. 
Then with more polished art, he rose in higher buskin, and 
the Stagerite, another Virbius, 7 lives again in a new Organon. 
Columbus leaves Calpe and Abyla 8 behind, with the proud 
oarage of Phoebus, destined by new arts to give man a new 
world ; his youthful ardor advances his emprise even to the 
ruthless envy of a threatening fate. What old man, or what 
Hannibal, in fear of darkness for his only eye, fans the 
Suburra with his victorious standards? 9 What Milo strong 
raises the wrath 10 of oaks, when old age, weight heavier than 
a bull u presses him down ? The while our hero bestowed 



1 lit. ' tickled ' — an exaggeration characteristic of this writer. 

2 philologom : the schoolmen, * lovers of words,' a phrase in the spirit of 

Mephistopheles' " im Ganzen — haltet Euch an Worte" etc. 

3 lactata, gen. ' cajoled,' but here in a good sense. 

4 lit. 'patch.' 

5 lit. * undertaking.' 

6 i. e. he resorted to no half way, dilettante measures. 

7 Hippolytus was raised from the dead and under the name of Virbius 
lived another life. Thus Bacon is an Aristoteles redivivus. 

8 The two pillars of Hercules. 

9 Illustration and phrasing from Juvenal. Sat. x. 156 f . Ventilat, * fans ' 
(i.e. 'stirs'), is an example of the exaggeration of the writer's style, 
which out-Juvenals Juvenal. 

10 bilem, * spleen ' — more tasteless imagery. The allusion is to Milo's 
tragic end. 

11 Alludes to the story of Milo's carrying a heifer on his shoulders at the 
Stadium of Olympia — an achievement of his youth. 



[24] 

Dum noster heros traderet scientias 

iEternitati, prorsus expeditior 

Sui sepulchri comperitur artifex. 

Placida videtur ecstasis speculatio, 

Qua mens tueri volucris idaeas boni 

In lacteos properat Olympi tramites. 

His immoratur sedibus domestica, 

Peregrina propriis. Redit. Joculariter 

Eugax ; vagatur rursus, et rursus redit. 

Furtiva tandem serib, se substrahit 

Totam ; gementi, morbido cadaveri 

Sic desuescit anima, sic jubet mori. 

Agite lugubres musae, et a Libani jugis 

Cumulate thura. Sydus in pyram illius 

Scintillet omne ; scelus sit accendi rogum 

Regum Prometheo culinari foco. 

Et si qua forte ludat in cineres sacros 

Aura petulantior, fugamque suadeat, 

Tunc flete ; lachrymis in amplexus ruent 

Globuli sequaces. Denub fundamine 

Ergastuli e verso radicitiis tui 

Evehere fcelix anima, Jacobum pete, 

Ostende, et illuc civicam fidem sequi. 

E tripode juris, dictites oracula 

Themidos alumnis. Sic (beati coalites) 

Astrcea pristino fruatur vindice, 

Vel cum Bacono rursus Astrceam date. 

R. P. 



[25] 

eternity upon the sciences, he was found, in truth, a readier 
artist of his own sepulchre. 1 Calm speculation seemeth 
extasy, where-by the winged mind, to gaze on the Ideas of 
Good, hastens to Olympus' milky paths. In these abodes 2 it 
tarrieth as its house, a stranger with its own. It comes 
again. 3 Playfully it flies away ; again it wanders and again 
comes back ; at last in earnest stealing away it utterly with- 
draws. Even so the soul quits the moaning, wasting corpse ; 
so does it bid it die. 4 

Come then, ye Muses of Woe, and from the spurs of Liba- 
nus gather ye incense, let every star shower its sparks upon his 
pyre; be it a crime to light the pile of kings with flame of Prome- 
theus from a kitchen hearth. And if perchance some breeze 
more wanton should play about his hallowed ashes and scatter 
them flying, then weep ye ; your tears will flow in sequent 
globules to mutual embrace. 5 Since then, the fundament of 
thy prison house is shattered utterly a second time, rise, happy 
soul, seek James ; 6 show him that civic fidelity followeth 
even there. From the law's tripod thou shalt utter oracles for 
Themis' fosterlings. Thus, ye blest Heavenly Ones, may 
Astraea take pleasure in her ancient champion ; or else, give 
ye Astraea back with Bacon. R. P. 



1 i. e. the old man of Verulam performed a task that called for the 
strength of a young hero (hence the point of the preceding illustration). 
Bacon's great monument that he was rearing turned out to be his tomb. 

2 i. e. on earth. 

8 i. e. to its heavenly home. 

4 Reason has appeared once or twice on earth in the person of Aristotle 
and other Sages ; now at the demise of Bacon, its last incarnation, it 
leaves for good and all. 

5 i. e. will chase each other down your cheeks. 

6 James I. died 1625, the year before. 



[26] 

V 

Memorice Meritisque honoratissimi D, Francisci D. 

Verulamii, Vice-Comitis, Sancti-AlbanL 

Lugete fletu turbulenta flumina, 

Sub calce nata Pegasi, 
Rivoque nigrum vix trahente pulverem 

Limo profana currite. 
Viridisque Daphnes decidens ramis honos 

Arescat infoelicibus. 
Quorsum Camoence laureas inutiles 

Mcesti colatis hortuli ? 
Quin vos severis stipitem bipennibus 

Vanse secatis arboris ! 
Vivos reliquit, cui solebat unico 

Coronam ferre lauream, 
Diviim potitus arce Verulamius 

Corona f ulget aurea : 
Supra co3li terminos sedens amat 

Stellas videre cernuus : 
Sopbiam qui sede caelitum reconditam 

Invidit immortalibus, 
Aggressus orbi redditam cultu novo 

Mortalibus reducere : 
Quo nemo terras incolens majoribus 

Donis pollebat ingeni : 
Nee ullus seque gnavitdr superstitum 

Themln maritat JPalladi. 
Adductus istis, dum vigebat, artibus 

Aonidum sacer chorus, 
In laude totam fudit eloquentiam, 

Nibil reliquit fletibus. 

PoSUi WlLHELMUS BOSWELL. 



[27] 

V 

To the Memory and the Merits of the Most Honored 
Sir, 1 Francis, Lord 2 of Verulam, Viscount St. Alban. 

Mourn ye streams, with weeping troubled, ye that were 
born beneath the heel of Pegasus, and as your current can 
scarce draw the black dust, run ye with mud profaned. And 
let Daphne's verdant glory 3 droop and wither on leafless 
boughs. To what end Muses, would ye rear the useless laurels 
of a garden sad ? Nay, rather, with the ruthless axe cut the 
stalk of the vain tree ! He hath left the living for whom 
alone it was wont to bear a crown of bay : Verulam, gaining 
the citadel of the gods, shineth in crown of gold, and 4 sitting 
above the boundaries of the sky he loves to see the stars mak- 
ing obeisance. The wisdom treasured in the Heavenly One's 
abode, he begrudged the immortals, essaying to bring it back 
to mortals, restored for the world's new adoration. 5 No dweller 
of earth abounds in greater gifts of genius than he ; nor does 
any of surviving men with equal skill wed Themis to Pallas. 
Moved by such talents, while yet he flourished, the sacred choir 
of Aonids 6 poured all their eloquence in his praise, and 
nought hath left for tears. 

By William Boswell. 



1 Domini = Cambridge B. A. 

2 Domini = Lord of the Manor (?) V. Cent. Diet. S. V. 
8 i. e. the laurel. 

4 Read supraque with Hagen and Meurer. 

5 i. e. he restores a long lost cult, as it were, — the love of wisdom. 

6 i. e. the Muses. 



[28] 



VI 



In Obitum honoratissimi Domini Francisci Baconi, 
magni nuper totius Anglice Cancellarii, cfec. 

Audax exemplum quo mens humana f eratur 

Et saecli vindex ingeniose tui, 
Dum senio macras recoquis fceliciter artes, 

Subtrahis et prisco libera colla jugo, 
Quo deflenda modo veniunt tua f unera ? quales 

Exposcunt lacrymas, quid sibi fata volunt ? 
An timuit natura parens ne nuda jaceret, 

Detraxit vestem dum tua dextra sacram ? 
Ignotique oculis rerum patuere recessus, 

Fugit et aspectum rimula nulla tuum ? 
An verb, antiquis olim data sponsa maritis, 

Conjugis amplexum respuit ilia novi? 
An tandem, damnosa piis atque invida caeptis, 

Correpuit vitae fila (trabenda) tua3 ? 
Sic ultra vitreum Siculus 1 ne pergeret orbem 

Privati cecidit militis ense senex. 
Tuque tuos manes ideb (Fkancisce) tulisti, 

Ne non tentandum perficeretur opus. 



1 Archimedes. 



[29] 

VI 

On the Death of the Most Honored Sir 1 Francis 
Bacon, of late High 1 Chancellor of England, &c. 

Thou bold exemplar of how far the human mind may rise ; 
thou talented deliverer of thine age ; the while thou dost hap- 
pily repair the meagre arts and ease free 2 necks of their an- 
cient yoke, how shall thy funeral be mourned, that now comes 
on? What tears do thy fates demand, what mean they? 
Did Parent Nature fear lest she lie naked while thy hand 
stripped her sacred robe ? Were the world's hidden corners 
bared to thine eyes, and did no cranny escape thy gaze ? Or, 
can it be, did she who was betrothed to ancient lords, spurn the 
embraces of her newest spouse ? Or, in fine, ruinous to the 
good and envious of endeavor, 3 did she snap thy life's threads, 
which rather should have been prolonged ? Thus, that the 
Sicilian old man 4 might not soar beyond the crystal sphere, 5 
he fell by a private's sword. Thou, too, Francis, hast for 
this received thy fate, that the forbidden task should not be 
finished. 



1 Perhaps domini here=' Lord,' as the office of Chancellor is mentioned. 
Or should Magni be rendered not ' High ' but * Lord ' ? 

2 Prolepsis, common in Latin poetry; i. e. ' ease and set free.' 
8 Read coeptis as in B., not cceptis. 

4 i. e. Archimedes. 

6 In the sense of Lucretius's fiammantia moenia mundi (i. 73). He was 
not to pursue his investigations too far into the divine. 



[30] 

VII 

In Eundem. 

Sunt qui defuncti vivant in marmore, et sevum 

Annosis credant postibus omne suum ; 
JEre micant alii, aut f ulvo spectantur in auro, 

Et dum se ludunt, ludere fata putant. 
Altera pars hominum, numerosa prole superstes, 

Cum Niobe magnos temnit iniqua deos : 
At tua caelatis hseret nee fama columnis, 

Nee tumulo legitur, Siste viator iter : 
Siqua patrem proles referat non corporis ilia est, 

Sed quasi de cerebro nata Minerva Jovis: 
Prima tibi virtus monumenta perennia praestat, 

Altera, nee citius corruitura, libri : 
Tertia nobilitas ; ducant jam fata triumphos, 

Quae (Francisce) tui nil nisi corpus habent. 
Utraque pars melior, mens et bona fama supersunt 

Non tanti ut redimas vile cadaver habes. 

T. Vincent, T. C. 



[31] 

VII 

On the Same. 

Some there are who, dead, would live in marble, and entrust 
their immortality to aged pillars ; Some shine in bronze, a or 
glitter in yellow gold, 1 and while they cheat themselves, think 
that they cheat the fates. Another breed of humankind, sur- 
viving with numerous progeny, like Niobe unjustly scorns the 
great gods. 2 But thy renown neither clings to graven columns 
nor does thy tomb read, 3 " Traveler, stay thy course." 4 If any 
offspring should recall his parent, 't is not that of his body, but 
such as Minerva, sprung from the brain of Jove. 5 First thy 
virtue bestows on thee perennial monument : and second — 
not soon to perish — thy books : third, thy nobility. Now let 
the Fates hold triumph, who, Francis, have nothing of thee but 
thy body. Both thy better parts, thy mind and thy good fame 
survive : thou holdest it not dear to ransom the vile corpse. 

T. Vincent, T. C. 
(i. e. of Trinity College.) 



1 i. e. have statues of bronze or gold erected to their memory. 

2 i. e. imagine they never shall die. 

3 Meurer, p. 103, would (inappropriately) change legitur to tegitur. 

4 i. e. bear some conventional eulogy. Siste viator iter is a frequent head- 
ing in epitaphs. 

6 i. e. his immortality is not to be transmitted through his descendants in 
the flesh: his qualities ensure his fame. 



[32] 

VIII 

In Obitum nobilissimi Domini Francisd 
Baronis Verulamii, &c. 

Visa mihi pridem nee in uno vivere posse 
Tot bona sunt, unquam nee potuisse mori. 

Queis, quasi syderibus coelum, tua vita refulsit, 
Et quae sunt f atum cuncta secuta tuum ; 

Ingenium, et largo procurrens flumine lingua, 
Philosophi pariter, juridicique decus. 

Nunc video potuisse quidem ; sed parcite amici, 
Hie si non redeat, non reditura puto. 

I. Vincent, T. C. 



[33] 

VIII 

On the Death of the Most Nolle Sir, Francis, 
Baron, Verulam <fkc. 

Once did I deem neither that so many virtues could dwell 
in one man, nor that they would ever die : with the which thy 
life shone like the heaven with stars, and which have all fol- 
lowed thine own fate 1 — genius and eloquence flowing in gen- 
erous stream, the glory of sage and of jurist too. I see now 
that this might have been — but friends, enough. If he shall 
not return, I think not that such traits will come again. 

I. Vincent, T. C. 
(i. e. of Trinity College.) 



1 i. e. departed with thee. 



[34] 

IX 

In Obitum illustrissimi clarissimique Herois, Domini 
Francisci Baconi, Baronis de Verulamio, Op-qvcoSCa. 

Musae f undite nunc aquas perennes 
In threnos, lacrymasque Apollo fundat 
Quas vel Castalium tenet fluentum : 
Nam letho neque convenire tanto 
Possint nsenia parva, nee coronent 
Immensa haec modicae sepulchra guttae : 
Nervus ingenii, medulla suadae 
Dicendique Tagus, reconditarum 
Et gemma pretiosa literarum 
Fatis concidit, (heu trium sororum 
Dura stamina) nobilis Baconus. 
O quam te memorem Bacone summe 
Nostro carmine ! et ilia gloriosa 
Conctorum monumenta seculorum, 
Excusa ingenio tuo, et Minerva ! 
Quam doctis, eligantibus, profundis, 
Instauratio magna, plena rebus ! 
Quanto lumine tineas sophorum 
Dispellit veterum tenebricosas 
Ex chao procreans novam <ro$Cav : 
Sic ipse Deus inditum sepulchro 
Corpus restituet manu potenti ; 
Ergo non moreris (Bacone), nam te 
A morte, et tenebris, et a sepulchro, 

Instauratio magna vindicabit. 

R. C, T. C 



[35] 

IX 

Threnody on the Death of the Most Illustrious and 

Most Eminent Hero, Sir Francis Bacon, 

Baron Verulam. 

Pour now ye Muses your perennial founts into a song of 
woe, and let Apollo shed in tears whatever even the stream 
of Castaly contains. For no humble dirge would befit so 
great a death, nor moderate drops crown this stupendous tomb. 
The Sinews of Wit, the Marrow of Persuasion, the Tagus 1 
of Eloquence, the Precious Gem of Recondite Letters, 2 
has fallen by the Fates (ah me, the three sisters' cruel 
threads !) — The noble Bacon, Ah how can I extol thee great- 
est Bacon, in my lay ! or how those glorious monuments of 
all ages, chiselled by thy genius, by Minerva. 3 How full thy 
Instauratio Magna of matter learned, elegant, profound! 
With what light hath it dispelled the gloomy moths of ancient 
sages, creating new Wisdom out of Chaos ! So God Himself 
with potent hand will restore the body consigned to the tomb. 4 
Thus Bacon, thou shalt not die ; for from death, from the 
shades, from the tomb, thy great Instauration shall deliver 

thee. 5 

R. C. T. C. 

(i. e. op Trinity College.) 



1 i. e. golden stream. 

2 i. e. his philosophical works. 

3 or by thy genius and thy wit. 

4 i. e. as God vouchsafed a resurrection to the human body, so 3acon to 
the old philosophers. 

5 i. e. this great resurrection is token of thine own. 



[36] 

X 

In Obitum honoratissimi Baronis Verulamiensis, &c. 

En iterum auditur (certe instauratio magna est ! ) 

Stellata camera f ulgidus ore Bacon : 
Nunc vere albatus, judex purissimus audit ; 

Cui stola ( Christe) tuo sanguine tincta datur. 
Integer ut fiat, priiis exuit ipse seipsum : 

Terra, habeas corpus ; (dixit,) et astra petit. 
Sic, sic, Astrceam sequitur praenobilis umbra, 

Et Verulam verum nunc sine nube videt. 



[37] 



On the Death of the Most Honored Baron 
Verulam, &c. 

Look ye ! in sooth 't is a great instauration ! Again is 
Bacon, with radiant face, heard in the chamber of the stars. 1 
Now in real robe of white, the most pure judge is listening, to 
whom, oh Christ, a stole dipped in Thy blood is given. To 
make himself complete, he first did doff himself. " Earth, 
keep the body," quoth he, and hied him to the stars. Thus, 
doth the all-noble shade follow Astraea, and seeth now that 
very Verulam without a cloud. 



1 A most tasteless allusion to Bacon's triumphs in the Star Chamber. 



[38] 



XI 

De Connubio Bosarum. 

Septimus Henricus non aere et marmore vivit ; 

Vivit at in chartis (magne Bacone) tuis. 

Junge duas (Henrice) rosas ; dat mille Baconus ; 

Quot verba in libro, tot reor esse rosas. 

T. P. 



[39] 

XI 
On the Marriage of the Hoses. 

The seventh Henry liveth not in bronze or marble, but he 

liveth, great Bacon in thy page. 1 Mate, Henry, thy roses 

twain : Bacon gives a thousand. As many the words in his 

book, so many the roses, I ween. 

T. P. 



i. e. the History of Henry VII. 



[40] 

XII 

In Obitum nobilissimi doctissimique Viri Dom. 
Fran. Bacon, Baronis Verulamiensis, &c. 

Sic cadit Aonii rarissima gloria coetus ? 

Et placet Aoniis credere semen agris ? 
Fragantur calami, disrumpanturque libelli, 

Hoc possint tetricse si modo jure deae. 
Heu quae lingua silet, quae jam f acundia cessat, 

Quo f ugit ingenii nectar et esca tui ? 
Quomodo musarum nobis contingit alumnis 

Ut caderet nostri praeses Apollo chori ? 
Si nil cura, fides, labor, aut vigilantia possint, 

Sique f eret rapidas, de tribus, una, mantfs ; 
Cur nos multa brevi nobis proponimus aevo ? 

Cur putri excutimus scripta sepulta situ ? 
Scilicet ut dignos aliorum a morte labores 

Dum rapimus nos mors in sua jura trahat. 
Quid tamen incassum nil proficientia f undo 

Verba ? quis optabit te reticente, loqui ? 
Nemo tuam spargat violis fragantibus urnam, 

Nee tibi pyramidum mole sepulchra locet ; 
Nam tua conservant operosa volumina famam, 

Hoc satis, haec prohibent te monumenta mori. 

Williams. 









[41] 

XII 

On the Death of the Most Noble and Most Learned 
Man, Sir Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, &c. 

Thus the rarest glory of the Aonian band is fallen ! And 
would you consign the seed to the Aonian plain ? 1 Let pens 
be broken and writings torn, if the stern goddesses may 
rightly do this. Ah me, what a tongue is silent, what elo- 
quence now ceases ! Whither is fled the nectar, the bread of 
thy wit ? How doth it befall us, the Muses' fosterlings, that 
Apollo, the master of our choir should be stricken down ? If 
care and fidelity, labor or vigilance can nought avail, if one 
of the Three shall swiftly interpose its hand, 2 why set we 
many aims for us in this brief span ? 3 Why strike off works 
that are buried in rotting decay? In sooth, the while we 
snatch others' worthy toil from death, Death may hale us to 
his court. Yet why do I pour forth in vain these fruitless 
words? Who, when thou art silent shall desire to speak? 
Let no man heap thy urn with fragrant violets, nor set thy 
tomb in the pyramids' pile. For thy laborious volumes pre- 
serve thy fame. This is enough: these monuments forbid 

that thou shouldst die. 

"Williams. 



1 i. e. cultivate the barren Muse. 

2 i. e. one of the three Parcce stands ever ready to thwart man's under- 
taking. 

8 cf. Horace C. ii. 16, 17, Quid brevi fortes iaculamur cevo multa f 



[42] 

XIII 

In Obitum honor atissimi Domini, D. Francisci Vice- 

comitis Sancti Albani, Baronis Verulamii, 

Viri incomparabilis. 

Parcite : noster amat f acunda silentia luctus, 

Postquam obiit solus dicere qui potuit : 
Dicere, quae stupeat procerum generosa corona, 

Nexaque sollicitis soluere jura reis. 
Vastum opus. At nostras etiam Verulamius artes 

Instaurat veteres, condit et ille novas. 
Non qua ma j ores : penitos verum ille recessus 

Naturae, audaci provocat ingenio. 
Ast ea, siste gradum, serisque nepotibus, (inquit^) 

Linque quod inventum scecla minora juvet. 
Sit satis his sese quod nobilitata inventis, 

Jactent ingenio tempora nostra tuo. 
Est aliquidy quo mox ventura superbiet aitas ; 

Est soli notum quod decet esse mihi : 
Sit tua laus, pulchros corpus duxisse per artus, 

Integra cui nemo reddere membra queat : 
Sic opus artificem infectum commendat Apellem, 

Cum pingit reliquam nulla manus Venerem. 
Dixit, et indulgens caeco natura furori, 

Praesecuit vitae filum operisque simul. 
At tu, qui pendentem audes detexere telam, 

Solus quern condant haec monumenta scies. 

H. T., Coll. Trin. Socius. 



[43] 

XIII 

On the Death of the Most Honored Gentleman 1 Sir 1 

Francis, Viscount St Alban, Baron Verulam, 

Incomparable Man. 

Desist : our grief loves eloquent silence now that lie is dead 
who alone could speak — aye, speak things to amaze the 
circle of the well-born Eminent — and could loose the laws 
entwined about the anxious prisoner. A work immense. But, 
besides, Verulam restores our old arts, and himself founds 
new. Not so the ancients ; for he with daring genius chal- 
lenges the hidden nooks of Nature. 

But she saith, " Stay thy steps, and leave to thy late grand- 
sons some discovery, to gratify the younger age. Be it enough 
that our times, ennobled by these discoveries, boast of thy 
genius. Something there is which shall make proud the ages 
soon to come : something there is which it behooves me alone 
to know. Thine be the praise to have drawn the body with all 
its beauteous parts, whereto no man may restore entire mem- 
bers. Thus the unfinished work commends the artist Apelles, 
while no hand paints whate'er of Venus he has left to do." 

So Nature spake, and giving way to her blind rage cut 
short the thread of life and of his work as well. 

But you alone, who dare to finish the hanging warp, shall 
know what manner of man these monuments enshrine. 2 

H. T. 
Fellow op Trinity College. 



1 Domini. 

2 i. e. only a man who could complete Bacon's work could really appreci- 
ate him. Condant does not mean verbergen as Bormann imagines (p. 11), 
but (as often in classical Latin) merely 'preserve,' ' enshrine.' 



[44] 

XIV 

In Obitum nobilissimi Viri, Francisci Domini 
Verulam, Vicecomites Sancti AlbanL 

Te tandem extincto secum mors laeta triumphat 
Atque ait ; hoc majus sternere nil potui , 

Hectora magnanimum solus laceravit Achilles, 
Obrutus ac uno vulnere Ccesar obit : 

Mille tibi morbos dederat mors, spicula mille, 
Credibile est aliter te potuisse mori ? 

Tho. Rhodes, Col. Regal. 



[45] 

XIV 

On the Death of the Most Noble Man Francis Lord 
Verulam, Viscount St. Alban. 

At length at thy demise, gay Death holds triumph with him- 
self and says : " Nothing greater than this man could I lay 
low." Achilles all alone mangled great hearted Hector, and 
Caesar struck by one blow fell. To thee had Death given a 
thousand ills, and sent a thousand darts at thee. Can we 
believe that thou couldst else have died ? 

Thomas Rhodes, 
of King's College, Cambridge. 



[46] 

XV 

In clarissimi Viri Francisci Bacon, Baronis de 

Verulamio, Vicecomitis Sancti Albani, 

Memoriam. 

Naturae vires pandens, artisque labores, 
Arte potens quondam studio indagavit anhelo 
Anglus, Bogerius Bacon, celeberrimus olim : 
Optica qui chymicis, physicisque mathemata jungens, 
Perspectiva, suae praeclara ruolimina mentis, 
Vivit in aeternum praeclarae munere famae. 
Anglus et alter erat clarus Bacon Joannes, 
Abdita Scripturae reserans oracula Sacrae. 
Stirps Baconiadum quamvis generosa Britannis 
Pignora plura dedit, longe celebrata per orbem ; 
Fkanciscum tandem tulit hunc : generosior alter 
Ingenio quisquamne fuit ? majora capessens ? 
Ditior eloquio ? compluraque mente revolvens ? 
Scripta docent ; veterum queis hie monumenta sophorum 
Censura castigat acri ; exiguoque libello 
Stupendos ausus docet Instauratio magna ; 
Ventorum Historice ; Vitceque et Mortis imago. 
Quis mage magnanimus naturam artesque retexens ? 
Singula quid memorem, quae multa et clara supersunt ? 
Pars sepulta jacet ; parti quoque visere lucem. 
Kawletus praestat Francisco fidus Achates. 

ROBERTUS ASHLETUS, ^lEDIO-TEMPLARIUS. 



[47] 



XV 



To the Memory of the Most Eminent Man, Francis 
Bacon, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. ATban. 

Revealing Nature's powers and the works of Art, potent him- 
self in art, a man of England once x followed his quest in 
breathless zeal — Koger Bacon, in former times far famed. 
Who, uniting Optic Science with Chemical, with Physical, Per- 
spective — these glorious emprises of the mind — liveth for- 
ever with the boon of glorious fame. Another man of England 
too attained renown — John Bacon, who unlocked the secret 
oracles of Sacred Scripture. Albeit the race of Bacon gave 
to the Britains many pledges, far famed in all the world, at 
last it bare our Francis. Whoe'er in genius was better born 
than he ? What man of greater undertakings ? Who with 
more wealth of eloquence ? Who that revolved more thoughts 
in his mind? His writings show. In them with piercing 
judgement, he castigates the works of ancient Sages : in a 
little book, his great Instauration reveals its stupendous 
aims : The Histories of Winds, the Image of Life and Death. 
Who greater-souled than he unbarred Nature and the Arts ? 
Why should I speak of each in turn, when many writings of 
great fame abound? A part of them lies buried; 2 that a part 
should see the light, Kawley, faithful Achates unto Francis, 

hath achieved. 

Robert Ashley, 

of the Middle Temple. 



1 Like Lucretius' primum Grains homo, i. 66. 

2 i. e. still in the manuscript, unedited. 



[48] 

XVI 

In Domini Ft andsci Baconi jam mortui Historiam 
Vitae et Mortis. 

Historic scriptor Vitce Mortisque Bacone, 
Sera mori, ac semper vivere digne magis ; 
Cur adeo aeternas praefers extincte tenebras, 
Nosque haud victuros post te ita tecum aboles ? 

Nostrum omnium Historiam Vitce Mortisque (Bacone) 
Scripsti ; quseso tuam quis satis historiam 

Vel vitse, vel mortis, i'o ? quin cedite Graii, 
Cede Maro Latia primus in historia. 

Optimus et fandi, et scribendi, et nomine quo non 

Inclytus, eximius consilio atque schola ; 
Marte idem, si Mars artem pateretur, et omni 

Excellens titulo semihomoque ac studio ; 
Temptor opum, atque aurum tenui dum posthabet aune, 

Terrea regna polo mutat, et astra solo. 



[49] 

XVI 

On the History of Life and Death, by the late Sir 
Francis Bacon. 

Thou writer of the history of life and death, Bacon, worthy 
late to die, aye, rather ever to live, why dost thou, extinct, so 
cherish the shades, and thus efface us with thyself, who shall 
not live after thee ? Thou hast written, Bacon, the history 
of the life and death of us all. Prithee who shall write well 
the story either of thy life or death — ah who ? Nay, yield, ye 
Greeks, yield Maro, first in Latin history. 1 

Most excellent in both the spoken and the written word, 
and famed in whatever way, 2 great at counsel 3 and in the 
school ; 4 excelling too in Mars, if Mars could suffer art, 5 and 
in every title, in every aim, more than a man. 6 Despiser of 
wealth, the while he rates gold lower than the unsubstantial 
breeze, he changes earthly realms for the sky, and the ground 
for the stars. 



1 cf. Propertius, iii. 34, 65, cedite Romani Scriptores cedite Graii. 

2 The full construction would be, non est nomen quo non inclytus erat. 

8 Refers to his career as Privy Councillor, or to his statesmanship in 
general. 

4 Refers to his attainments in philosophy. 

5 Meurer's interpretation (p. Ill), 'if Mars could suffer him this art,' 
seems pointless. 

6 A queer use of semihomo. In classical Latin it means ' half-beast,' not 

'half-god.' 



[50] 

XVII 
In eundem Virum Moquentissimum, 

Viderit Utilitas, moniti meliora, sed adde 
Ex Ithaca, f andi fictor, et omne tenes. 

E. F., Regal. 



[51] 

XVII 
On the same most Eloquent Man. 

Let Utility look on him, 1 oh ye of better learning, 2 but add 

a bit of Ithaca, thou forger of tales, 3 and then thou shalt have 

all. 4 

E. F. of King's College (Cambridge). 



1 or ' take notice ; ' the idea is, let utilitas be reckoned as one of Bacon's 
characteristics. 

2 moniti meliora, i. e. doctiores, men of understanding. 

3 Ulysses is here addressed. Fandi Jictor is applied to him in Virgil, 
Mn. ix. 602. 

4 i. e. with the capacity for useful learning, Bacon unites a sprightly 
imagination. 



[52] 
XVIII 

In Obitum literatissimi juxta ac nobilissimi Viri 

Francisci Domini Verulam, Vicecomitis 

Sancti Albani. 

Occidit ante diem musarum phosphorus ! ipsa 
Occidit ah clarii cura, dolorque Dei. 

Deliciae (natura) tuse ; mundique Baconus : 
Mortis (quod mirum est) ipsius ipse dolor. 

Quid non crudelis voluit sibi parca licere? 
Parcere mors vellet, noluit ilia tamen. 

Melpomene objurgans hoc nollet f erre ; deditque 
Insuper ad tetricas talia dicta deas. 

t Crudelis nunquam ver£ prius Atropos ; orbem 
Totum habeas, Phozbum tu modo redde meum. 

Hei mihi ! nee coelum, nee mors, nee musa (Bacone) 
Obstabant fatis, nee mea vota tuis. 



[63] 

XVIH 

On the Death of the Most Cultured, and, too, Most 

Noble Man, Francis Lord Verulam, 

Viscount St Alban. 1 

The Day star of the Muses hath fallen ere his time ! Fallen 
ah me, is the very care and sorrow of the Clarian god, 2 thy 
darling, Nature, and the world's — Bacon : aye — passing 
strange — the grief of very Death. What privilege did not 
the cruel Destiny 3 claim ? Death would fain spare, and yet 
she would it not. Melpomene, chiding, would not suffer it, 
and spake these words to the stern goddesses : " Never was 
Atropos truly heartless before now ; keep thou all the world, 
only give my Phoebus back." Ah me, alas ! nor Heaven nor 
Death nor the Muse, oh Bacon, nor my prayers could bar the 
fates. 



1 Translated into German by Cantor, p. xv. 

2 Phcebus is meant. 
8 Parca. 



[54] 

XIX 

In Obitum ejusdem. 

Si repetes quantum mundo musisque (Bacone) 

Donasti, vel si creditor esse velis ; 
Conturbabit amor, mundus, musaeque, Jovisque 

Area, preces, ccelum, carmina, thura, dolor ; 
Quid possunt artes, quidve invidiosa vetustas ? 

Invidiam tandem desinat esse licet : 
Sustineas faelix, maneasque (Bacone) necesse est, 

Ah natura nihil, quod tibi solvat, habet. 



[55] 

XIX 

On the Death of the Same. 

If thou shalt review how much thou hast given to the world 
and to the Muses, Bacon ; if thou shouldst care to be a cred- 
itor, then love, the world, the Muses, Jove's secrets, prayers, 
Heaven, songs, incense and grief will confound the score. 1 
What can art avail, and what the envious age ? It is vouch- 
safed at last that envy should cease to be. 2 So Bacon, thou 
must needs preserve thy state and keep thy happy lot. 3 Ah, 
Nature has naught to pay thee. 



1 Conturbabit is not as Meurer says (p. 104) used for conturbabitur, but 

in the sense of Catullus' conturbabimus ilia (v. 11). 
3 Envy cannot hope to aspire to achievements like Bacon's. 
8 i. e. let things stand as they are — do not attempt such a reckoning. 



[56] 

XX 

In Obitum ejusdem, &c. 

Si nisi qui dignus, nemo tua fata (Bacone) 
Fleret, erit nullus, credito nullus erit. 

Plangite jam vere Clio, Cliusque sorores, 
Ah decima occubuit musa, decusque chori. 

All nunquam vere inf aelix priiis ipsus Apollo 1 
Unde illi qui sic ilium amet alter erit ? 

Ah numerum non est habiturus ; jamque necesse est, 
Contentus musis ut sit Apollo novem. 



[57] 

XX 

On the Death of the Same, etc. 

If only the worthy, Bacon, shall lament thy fate, ah none 
will do it, there '11 be none, believe me, there '11 be none. 

Weep ye now truly, Clio, and Clio's sisters. 1 Ah, fallen is 
the tenth Muse, the glory of the choir. Ah never really was 
Apollo himself unhappy before! When shall he ever gain 
another so to love him ? Ah me ! the full number he shall 
have no more : now must Apollo be content with nine Muses. 



1 This poet seems to have been reading Ovid's Art of Love, i. 27, Clio 
Cliusque sorores. 



[58] 

XXI 

Ad utrasque Academias Carmen UapafivdrjTLKov. 

Si mea cum vestris valuissent vota sorores, 

(Ah venit ante suum nostra querela diem !) 
Non f oret ambiguum nostri certamen amoris, 

(Et pia nonnunquam lis in amore latet :) 
Nos nostrum lacrymis, et te potiremur Apollo 

Delicium patriae (docte Bacone) tuae, 
Quid potuit natura magis, virtusque ? dedisti 

Perpetui fructum nominis inde tui. 
Cum legerent nostri pars te prudentior aeri, 

Unum jurabant usque decere loqui. 
Hunc nimium tetricae nobis, vobisque negarunt 

(Ah sibi quid nolunt saepe licere) deae. 
Dignus erat coelo, sed adhuc tellure morari, 

Pro tali quae sunt improba vota viro ? 
O faelix f atum ! cum non sit culpa (Bacone) 

Mortem, sed faelix gloria, flere tuam. 
Sistite jam meritos fletus, gemitusque sorores ; 

Non potis est maestos totus inire rogos. 
Et noster, vesterque f uit : lis inde sequuta est, 

Atque uter major sit dubitatur amor, 
Communis dolor est, noster, vesterque : jacere 

Uno non potuit tanta ruina loco. 

Guileel. Loe, Coll. Trinit. 



[59] 

XXI 

A Song of Consolation l to Both Academies, 

If my prayers, ye Sisters, had with yours availed (ah me, 
our plaint hath come before its time !), not vain would be the 
contest of our love (for oft in love resides the strife of emu- 
lous devotion) : we should have gained our own by our tears, 
and thee as well, Apollo, 2 yes thee, learned Bacon, the dar- 
ling of thy father-land. What could nature more, or virtue ? 
Thou gavest thereby the meed of thine unending fame. When 
the wiser part of our age read thee, they swore that it befitted 
thee alone to speak for ever. Him 3 the too stern goddesses 
(ah me, what prerogative do they not claim at every turn !) 4 
have denied to us and to you. Worthy he was of the sky, 
but what prayers for such a man, that he still should tarry 
upon earth, can be importunate ? Oh happy fate ! since 't is 
no blame, Bacon, but joyful eulogy to mourn thy death. 5 Stay 
now, ye sisters, your just plaints and sighs. He cannot all 6 
ascend the melancholy bier. He was both ours and yours : a 
strife is thence arisen, and 't is in doubt which love the greater 
be. The grief is common, ours and yours : such ruin could 
not descend upon one place alone. 

William Loe, of Trinity College. 

1 Harleian Misc. has irapafivdiriKbv ; Blackbourne, irapa/ivSriTiKby. 

2 Bacon is identified with Apollo. 

3 Sudden shift of the pronoun ; perhaps the poet now addresses the pars 
prudentior to whom he has just referred. 

4 ah sibi quid nolunt scepe licere ; cf. quid non crudelis voluit sibi Parca 
licere, Poem XVIII, 5 by the same author. 

5 It would be blameworthy to mourn the gods' dispensation in any other 
case, but here where Bacon is to reign exalted, sorrow turns to praise. 
Cf. Statius on Lucan's birthday, Silv. ii. 7, 135, quidquid fleverat ante, 
nunc adoret. 

6 Horace's non omnis moriar. 



[60] 

XXII 

In Obitum illustrissimi Domini Verulamii, Vice- 
comitis Sancti Albani. 

Dum scripturivit multum Verulamius heros, 

Imbuit et crebis ssecla voluminibus : 
Viderat exultos mors dudum exosa libellos, 

Scripta nee inf selix tarn numerosa tulit. 
Odit enim ingenii monumenta perennia, quseque 

Funeros spernunt semula scripta rogos. 
Ergo dum calamum libravit dextera, dumque 

Lassavit teneras penna diserta manus ; 
Nee turn finitam signarat pagina chartam 

Ultima, cum nigrum Theta coronis erat : 
Attamen et vivent seros aditura nepotes, 

Morte vel inita, scripta (Bacone) tua. 

Jacobus Dupoet, T. C. 



[61] 

XXII 

On the Death of the Most Illustrious Lord Verulam, 
Viscount St. Alban. 

While the hero of Verulam desired much to write, and 
showered the age with frequent volumes, death long looked 
upon the careful books in hate, nor could that accursed one 
tolerate so many works. For he hated talent's enduring mon- 
uments, and the emulous writings that scorn funereal pyres. 
And yet, though thy fingers held the pen in poise, 1 and though 
the eloquent reed wearied thy feeble hand, though still un- 
finished was thy manuscript, which the last page had signed 
(since black Theta 2 was the flourish) yet shall thy writings, 
Bacon, live and reach thy descendants late in time, even in 

spite of death. 

James Duport, T. C. 

(i. e. of Trinity College.) 



1 i. e. could write no more. 

a The flourish after the last word was a Theta for Sdvaros. ' death.' 



[62] 

XXIII 

Ad Viatorem, Honoratissimi Domini, Francisci 
Domini Verulam, Monumentum inspicientem. 

Marmore Pieridum gelido JPhoebique choragum 
Inclusumne putes, stulte viator ? abi : 

Fallere : jam rutilo Verulamia fulget Olympo : 
Sidere splendet 1 Aper magne Jacobe tuo. 



1 V. Insignia gent. Bacon. 



[63] 
XXIII 

To the Traveler who views the Monument of the Most 
Honored Sir, Francis, Lord Verulam. 

Dost think, stupid traveler, that the choragus of Phoebus 
and the Muses' band is confined in this chill marble ? Avaunt ! 
Thou art deceived, Verulam * now shines in ruddy Olympus : 
the boar, great James, now glittereth in thy sign. 



1 Verulamia may mean ' the sidereal Verulam ' (the manor) or, under- 
standing stella, 'the Verulamian star'; Bacon's soul possesses a star 
as that of Caesar and that of James did. 



[64] 

XXIV 

In Obitum illustrissimi et spectatissimi turn a IAteris 

turn a Prudentia et nativa Nobilitate Viri, Domini 

Francisci Bacon, Vicecomitis Sancti Albani, &c. 

Non ego, non Naso si viveret ipse, litaret 

Exequiis versu magne Bacone tuis. 
Deducti veniunt versus a mente serena, 

Nubila sunt fato pectora nostra tuo. 
Replesti mundum scriptis, et ssecula fama, 

Ingredere in requiem, quando ita dulce, tuam. 
Et tibi doctrina3 exaltatio scripta (Bacone) 

Exaltat toto jam caput orbe tuum. 
Curta cano, quin nulla magis ; sin carmina vitae. 

Te reparare tuse, quanta (Bacone) darem ? 

C. D. Regal. 



[65] 

XXIV 

On the Death of the Man Most Illustrious and Emi- 
nent, both in Letters and in Sagacity and in 
Native Nobility, Sir Francis Bacon, 
Viscount St. Alban. 

Not I, no not Ovid, were lie alive, could pay the tribute of 
his verse, great Bacon, to thine obsequies. Verse comes when 
drawn from a mind serene : our breast is clouded by thy fate. 
Thou hast filled the world with thy works and the ages with 
thy fame : enter then, since it is so sweet, into thy rest. Aye, 
the exaltation of learning, 1 written, Bacon, by thee, exalts now 
thine own head throughout the world. Short is my song ; 
nay, it is nothing. But if songs could restore thee to life, ah 
Bacon, how many would I give ! 

C. D. of King's College (Cambridge). 



1 Referring to the Advancement of Learning. 



>*r 



[66] 

XXV 

In Obitum honoratissimi Domini, Domini Francisci 
Baronis de Verulamio, Vicecomitis S. Albani. 

Qui f uit legis moderator, ilia 
Lege solutus, reus ipse mortis 
Sistitur, nostram politeia turbat 

Sic RadamanthL 

Qui Novo summum sophiae magistrum 
Organo tandem docuisset uti 
Mortis antiqua methodo coactus 

Membra resolvit. 

Quippe praemissis valide novicis 
Parca conclusum voluit supremum 
Huic diem, sensus ratione fatis 

Insit iniquis. 

Multa qui haud uno revelanda seclo 
Kpimra naturae patefecit, ipse 
Justa naturae f acili novercae 

Debita solvit. 

Artium tandem meliore vena 
Occidit plenus, moriensque monstrat 
Quam siet longa ars, brevis atque vita, 
Fama perennis; 

Qui fuit nostro rutilans in orbe 
Lucifer, magnos et honoris egit 
Circulos, transit, proprioque fulget 
Fixus in orbe. 



[67] 

XXV 

On the Death of the Most Honored Gentleman, Sir 
Francis, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Alban. 

He that was governor of law, now from that law set free, 
himself is brought before death's bar ; thus does the realm 
of Rhadamanthus confound our own. He that at last had 
taught the greatest master of wisdom 1 to use a New Or- 
ganon, constrained by death's ancient mode, hath loosed his 
limbs. Verily Destiny, from most vicious premises, hath 
willed as the conclusion his last day, to show if sense or rea- 
son dwell in the unjust fates. He who disclosed many of 
Nature's hidden things, to be revealed to not one age alone, 
himself to Nature, kindly Stepdame, hath paid his bounden 
dues. At last then he is fallen, filled with art's richer vein, 
and dying shows how long is art, how fleeting life, and how 
undying fame. He who was the ruddy day star in our world 
and through the great orbits of honor drove, hath passed 
beyond and shineth fixed in his own sphere. 



1 i. e. Aristotle. 



[68] 

XXVI 

Carmen Sepulchrale. 

Sub tumulo est corpus, (non debita praeda sepulcbri) 
Virtutum exterius nomina marmor habet ; 

Sic pia saxa loqui docuit vestigia figens 
Marmore in hoc virtus, ipsa datura f ugam : 

Nostra dabunt tumulumque aeternum corda, loquantur 
Ut f amam illius saxa hominesque simul. 

Henr. Ferne, Trin. Coll. Soc. 



[69] 

XXVI 

Burial Hymn. 

Under the mound is the body (the grave's unmerited prize ; ) 
the title of his virtues the outer marble holds. Thus hath 
virtue, making its impress on this marble, taught the pious 
stones to speak, the while herself prepares for flight. And 
our hearts, too, will offer an eternal tomb, that stones and men 
alike may speak his fame. 

Henry Ferne (Fellow of Trinity College). 



[70] 

xxvn 

Ad statuam literatissimi vereque nobilissimi Viri 
Domini Francisci Bacon. 

Octoginta negat qui te numerasse Decembres, 

Frontem, non libros inspicit ille tuos : 
Nam virtus si cana sanem, si serta Minervce, 

Reddant ; vel natu Nestore major eras. 
Quod si forma neget, veterum sapientia monstret ; 

Longaevse aetatis tessera certa tuae. 
Vivere namque diu cornicum condere lustra 

Non est, sed vita posse priore frui. 

G. Nash, Attl. Pem. 



[71] 

XXVII 

On the Statue of the Most Lettered and Truly Noble 
Man, Sir Francis Bacon. 

He that denies that thou hast numbered eighty Decembers, 
looks upon thy forehead, not upon thy books. For if hoary 
virtue, if Minerva's garlands can make old, then wast thou 
Nestor's elder. Yes, if thy features refuse, let the wisdom 
of the ancients show it — a certain token of thy lengthy life. 
For to live long is not to fulfil the luster's 1 of the crow, but to 
have power to enjoy past life. 

G. Nash, Pembboke Hall (Cambridge.) 



[} Luster = literally a period of five years, i. e. ages.] 



[72] 
XXVIII 

De Inundatione nupera Aquarum. 

Solverat Eridanus tumidarum flumina aquarum : 

Solverat ; et populis non levis horror erat : 
Quippe gravis Pyrrhm metuentes tempora cladis 

Credebant simili crescere flumen aqua. 
Ille dolor fuerat saevus, lachrymaBque futuri 

Funeris, et justis dona paranda novis. 
Scilicet et fluvios tua (vir celeberrime) tangunt 

Funera, nedum homines, moestaque corda virum 

J. 



[73] 

xxvni 

On the Recent Flood. 

Eridanus had unbarred his swollen waters' streams. He had 

unbarred them : and to the nations, that was no slight alarm : 

fearing in sooth, the times of Pyrrha's fell disaster, 1 they 

thought the river grew with similar flood. That was but a 

savage sorrow, and tears for the coming death — an offering 

made ready for the newly sainted. In sooth, renowned man, 

thy fate moves streams to sorrow, not to speak of humankind 

and the sad hearts of men. 

James. 



1 cf. Horace, Carm. i. 2, 5. 



[74] 

XXIX 

In Obitum honoratissimi Viri Francisci Bacon, Vice- 
comitis Sancti Albani, Baronis de Verulam, &c. 

Ergo te quoque flemus ? et seternare Camoenas 

Qui poteras, poteras ipse (Bacone) mori ? 
Ergo nee aetherea f ruerere diiitius aura ? 

(Indigni scriptis Ventus et Aura tuis ;) 
Scilicet indomiti tandem vesania f ati 

Placari voluit nobiliore rogo : 
Saevaque vulgares jam dedignata triumphos 

Ostendit nimio plus licuisse sibi ; 
Unaque lux tanti nunc luctus conscia, peste 

Insolita quanti nee prior annus erat. 

R.L. 



[75] 

XXIX 

On the Death of the Most Honored Man Francis 
Bacon, Viscount St Alban, Baron Verulam, etc. 

Shall we then mourn for thee as well? Thou who couldst 

immortalize the Muses, couldst thou thyself, oh Bacon, die ? 

Shalt thou then no more exult in the breezes of heaven? 

(Breezes and wind unworthy of thy writing !) x In sooth the 

rage of unconquered fate wished to be appeased at last by 

a more noble pyre, and fiercely spurning triumphs already 

commonplace showed all too well that this was in her power. 

Yes, this one day is conscious now of such a woe as the past 

vear with its unwonted ruin was not. 

R. L. 



1 Alludes to the Historia Ventorum. 



[76] 

XXX 

In Obitum nobilissimi Viri, Francisci Baconis, olim 
Magni Sigilli Anglice Custodis. 

Quid ? an apud deos coorta lis f uit ? 
An aemulum senex Satumus filium 
Jbvem vocavit in jus, rursiis expetens 
Eegnum ? sed illic advocatum non habens 
Relinquit astra, pergens in terras iter, 
Ubi citb invenit parem sibi virum, 
Baconem scilicet, quern falce demetens 
Jus exequi coegit inter angelos, 
Et ipsum se Jbvemque filium suum. 
Quid ? an prudentia Baconis indigent 
Dei ? vel liquerit deos Astrcea ? 
Ita est : abivit : ipsaque astra deserens, 
Ministrabatur huic Baconi sedule. 
Satumus ipse non felicioribus 
Degebat aevum saeculis, quibus nomen 
Vel aureum fuit, (sunt haec poetica) 
Quam judicante nos Bacone degimus : 
Beatis ergo nobis numina invidentia, 
Volebant gaudium hoc commune demere : 
Abiit, abiit : sat hoc doloribus meis 
Est protulisse : non dixi est mortuus : 
Quid est opus jam vestimentis atris ? en en 
Arundo nostra tinctura fluit nigra ; 
Camoenarumque f ons siccum se fecerit, 
In lacrymas minutas se dispertiens : 
Frequentibusque nimbis Aprilis madet 
Dolores innuens : quippe insolentius 



[77] 

XXX 

On the Death of the Most Noble Man, Francis Bacon, 
sometime Keeper of the Great Seal of England. 

What ? Hath strife arisen among the gods ? Hath then old 
Saturn called Jove, his emulous son, to court, suing again 
for his realm ? But having no advocate there, he left the 
stars, winning his way to the earth, where speedily he found 
him a meet man, Bacon, in sooth, whom mowing with his 
scythe, 1 he forced to champion his suit before the angels, 
before his very self and Jove his son. What ? Do gods need 
Bacon's skill ? Or has Astraea left the gods ? So it is : she 
went away, and leaving the very stars was sedulously minis- 
tering to Bacon here. Saturn himself in no more prosperous 
ages passed his time — those that were given the name of 
gold in poets' idle tales 2 — than we have spent when Bacon 
was our judge. Therefore the powers envying our bliss, 
wished to deprive us of this common joy. He has gone, he 
has gone, 'T is enough for my grief to have uttered this much : 
I said not, " He is dead." What need of black raiment is 
there any more ? See, see, our reed flows with black tincture : 
the Muses' fountain will run dry, disporting in tiny tears, 
and April drips with many a cloud, thus intimating woe. 



1 A tasteless confusion of Saturn's sickle with the scythe of Death. 
3 This is the connotation of haec sunt poetica. 



[78] 

Furit f raterna ventorum discordia : 
Uterque scilicet gemens non desinit 
Ab intus altius suspirium trahens, 
O omnibus bone, ut videntur omnia 
Amasse te virum, et dolere mortuum ! 

Henr. Ocklet, C. Tr. 



[79] 

Immoderately rude, I ween, rages the brotherly discord of the 
winds : each verily stays not its moans, drawing from within 
a deeper sigh. Oh thou good to all, how all things seem to 
have loved thee living and to mourn thee dead ! 

Henry Ockley, of Trinity College. 



[80] 

XXXI 

In Languorum diuturnum, sed Mortem inopinatam, 
nobilissimi Domini sui, Vicecomitis Sancti Albani. 

Mors prius aggressa est, f uit inde repulsa ; putabam. 

Incepti et sceleris poenituisse sui. 
Callidus obsessas ut miles deserit urbes 

Incautis posito quo f erat arma metu ; 
Mors pariter multum hunc vulnus defendere doc turn, 

Averso a musis lumine saeva ferit. 
Quam cupiam lacrymis oculos absumere totos ; 

Nostra sed heu libris lumina servo suis. 
Sic maculis chartam lugentum emittere cordi est ; 

Nil salis hie nisi quod lacryma salsa dedit. 

Guil. Atkins, 
dominationis suce servus domesticus. 



[81] 

XXXI 

On the Long Illness but Unexpected Death of the 
Most Noble Lord, 1 Viscount St. Alban. 

Death first drew nigh, and then was driven hence. Me- 
thought he had repented of his errand and his crime. As 
the shrewd soldier deserts beleaguered towns, again to attack 
them when the unwary townsmen have discarded fear, Death 
in like manner, seeing him skilful to fend off the wound, 
struck cruelly when he had turned his eyes from the Muses. 
How would I fain waste my whole sight in tears : but, ah me, 
I guard my eyes for their own 2 books. Thus am I glad to 
send forth this page with mourning stains : no [Attic] salt is 
here, save what a salt tear gives. 

William Atkins, 
Household Servant op his Lordship. 



1 Or, ' of his (i. e. the writer's) most noble Master.' 
3 i. e. the books they so love — the works of Bacon. 



[82] 

XXXII 

In Obitum Domini Francisci Baconi, Baronis de 
Verulamio et totius Angliae nuperi Cancellarii. 

Dum moriens tantam nostris Verulamius heros 

Tristitiam musis, luminaque uda f acit : 
Credimus heu nullum fieri post fata beatum, 

Credimus et Samium desipuisse senem. 
Scilicet hie miseris f oelix nequit esse Camoenis 

Nee se quam musas plus amat iste suas. 
At luctantem animam Clotho imperiosa coegit. 

Ad coelum invitos traxit in astra pedes. 
Ergone Phoebeias jacuisse putabimus artes ? 

Atque herbas Clarii nil valuisse dei ? 
Phoebus idem potuit, nee virtus abfuit herbis, 

Hunc artem atque illas vim retinere putes : 
At Phoebum (ut metuit ne rex foret iste Camoenis) 

Eivali medicam crede negasse manum. 
Huic dolor est ; quod cum Phoebe Verulamius heros 

Major erat reliquis, hac foret arte minor. 
Vos tamen, 6\ tantiim manes atque umbra, Camoenoe, 

Et pene inferni pallida turba Jovis, 
Si spiratis adhuc, et non lusistis ocellos, 

Sed neque post ilium vos superesse putem : 
Si vos ergo aliquis de morte reduxerit Orpheus, 



[83] 

XXXII 

On the Death of Sir Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam 
and late Chancellor of all England" x 

Since Verulam's hero, dying, hath brought to our Muses such 
sadness and wet eyes, we think, ah me, that no man can be 
happy after death ; we think insensate the Samian old man. 2 
He 3 verily cannot be happy when the Muses are abject, nor 
does he love himself more than his own Muses. But imperi- 
ous Clotho forced his struggling soul to heaven, and dragged 
him with reluctant feet to the stars. Shall then we think 
that Phoebus' arts are fallen, that the herbs of the Clarian 
god 4 have lost their strength ? Such power had Phoebus, nor 
did those herbs lack virtue ; believe it, he kept his art, and 
they their potency. But know that Phoebus (as he feared 
that Bacon should be king among the Muses) refused to his 
rival his healing hand. Hence is this woe. For while Veru- 
lam's hero exceeded Phoebus in other arts, in this art 5 was 
he less. You though, oh ye Muses, were ghosts and shade, and 
now well-nigh the pallid troop of the infernal Jove, 6 if ye yet 
breathe, and have not mocked mine eyes (though I could not 
think that after him you could survive) ; if then some Or- 
pheus shall bring you back from the dead, and you are not an 

1 Translated into German by Cantor, p. x, also into English by the same 
writer in his Resurrectio Divi Quirini. 

2 i. e. Pythagoras, whose doctrines emphasized the belief in a blessed 
immortality. 

8 i. e. Bacon. 

4 i. e. Apollo, here in his character as god of healing. 

5 i. e. in the art of healing. 

6 i. e. after Bacon's death the Muses are in danger of being reduced to 
the ranks of the infernal deities. 



[84] 

Istaque non aciem f allit imago meam : 
Discite nunc gemitus et lamentabile carmen, 

Ex oculis vestris lacryma multa fluat. 
En quam multa fluit ? veras agnoseo Camcenas 

Et lacrymas, Helicon vix satis unus erit ; 
Deucalionceis et qui non mersus in undis 

Parnassus (mirum est) hisce latebit aquis. 
Scilicet hie periit, per quern vos vivitis, et qui 

Multa Pierias nutriit arte deas. 
Vidit ut hie artes nulla radice retentas, 

Languere ut summo semina sparsa solo ; 
Crescere Pegaseas docuit, velut hasta Quirini 

Crevit, et exiguo tempore Laurus erat. 
Ergo Heliconiadas docuit cum crescere divas, 

Diminuent hujus secula nulla decus. 
Nee ferre ulterius generosi pectoris aestus 

Contemptum potuit, diva Minerva, tuum. 
Restituit calamus solitum divinus honorem 

Dispulit et nubes alter Apollo tuas. 

Dispulit et tenebras sed quas obfusca vetustas 

Temporis et prisci lippa senecta tulet ; 
Atque alias methodos sacrum instauravit acumen, 

Gnossiaque eripuit, sed sua fila dedit. 
Scilicet antiquo sapientum vulgus in aeto 

Tarn claros oculos non habuisse liquet ; 
Hi velut Eoo surgens de littore Phoebus, 

Hie velut in media f ulget Apollo die : 
Hi veluti Tiphys tentarunt aaquora primum, 

At vix deseruit littora prima ratis, 
Pleiadas hie Hyadasque atque omnia sydera noscens, 

Syrtes, atque tuos, improba Scylla, canes ; 



[85] 

image that deceives my sight, 1 learn ye now groans and songs 
of lamentation : let many a tear flow from your eyes. Look 
ye, how many have flowed ! I recognize the very Muses and 
their tears : one Helicon will scarcely be enough. Parnassus, 2 
too, that was not buried in Deucalion's waves — a thing of 
marvel — will hide within these waters. In sooth he has per- 
ished through whom ye live, he who hath fed the Pierian 
goddesses with rich art. When he saw the arts here held by 
no root and languishing like seeds scattered on top of the 
soil, he taught the Pegasean Maids 3 to grow even as the spear 
of Romulus grew and in short time was a bay. So since he 
taught the Heliconian goddesses to grow, no ages will lessen 
his renown. Nor could the fire of a well born breast, bear 
further, divine Minerva, men's neglect of thee. His heavenly 
reed 4 restored thy wonted honor ; a second Apollo routed thy 
clouds. He routed the shadows, too : aye, those brought on 
by dusky old age and the blear senility of a former time. 
And other methods did his divine sagacity restore : he tore 
the Cretan skein away, but gave one of his own. 5 In sooth 
't is clear that in antique days the troop of wise men had not 
such clear eyes. They were like Phoebus rising from the 
orient shore ; he like Apollo shining at mid-day. They first 
like Tiphys 6 essayed the seas, but the bark scarce left the 
nearest shores ; he discerning Pleiades and Hyades and all the 
stars, the Syrtes, and, Scylla, thy hounds, knows what is to be 

1 istaque non aciem fallit imago meam : or * if such a picture does not 

deceive my sight ' (Cantor). 

2 The only mountain not covered in the flood. 

8 Understand divas ' goddesses ' as Heliconiadas — divas follows. Cantor 

supplies artes from the second line above. 
4 i. e. pen. 

6 Alluding to the story of Ariadne and Theseus. 
6 The pilot of the Argo, according to one tradition the first man to sail a 

ship across the seas. 



[86] 

Scit quod vitandum est, quo dirigat aequore navem, 

Certiiis et cursum nautica monstrat acus : 
Infantes illi Musas, hie gignit adultas ; 

Mortales illi, gignit at iste deas. 
Palmam ideo reliquis Magna Instauratio libris 

Abstulit, et cedunt squalida turba sophi. 
Et vestita novo Pallas modo prod it amictu 

Anguis depositis ut nitet exuviis. 
Sic Phoenix cineres spectat modo nata paternos, 

JEsonis et rediit prima iuventa senis. 
Instaurata suos et sic Verulamia muros 

Iactat, et antiquum sperat ab inde decus. 

Sed quanta effulgent plus quam mortalis ocelli 
Lumina, dum regni mystica sacra canat ? 

Dum sic naturae leges, arcanaque regum, 
Tanquam a secretis esset utrisque, canat ; 

Dum canat Henricum, qui rex idemque sacerdos, 
Connubio stabili iunxit utramque rosam. 

Atqui hsec sunt nostris longe maiora Camoenis, 

Non haec infaelix Granta, sed Aula sciat : 
Sed cum Granta labris admoverit ubera tantis 

Ius habet in laudes (maxime alumne) tuas. 
Ius habet, ut mcestos lacrymis extingueret ignes, 

Posset ut e medio diripuisse rogo. 
At nostrae tibi nulla ferrat encomia musae, 

Ipse canis, laudes, qua possumus arte, canemus, 
Si tamen ars desit, laus erit iste dolor. 

Th. Randolph, T. 



[87] 

shunned, and on what waters to guide the ship ; for him more 
certainly the mariner's needle points the course. They begat 
infant Muses, he adult: they, mortal, but he goddesses. 
Therefore his Magna Instauratio snatched the palm from 
other books, and the sages, squalid throng, now slink away. 
Aye, even now Pallas steps forth, clad in new robe, as a snake 
glistens when he sloughs off his coat. Thus the new born 
Phoenix gazes on his paternal ashes ; thus to old Aeson his 
pristine youth returns ; thus too Verulam, 1 restored, disports 
its walls and hopes therefrom its ancient glory. 

But how large shine his eyes, with glance more bright than 
that of a mortal, while he sings the sacred mysteries of the 
realm ; while he so sings of Nature's laws and princes' secrets, 
as though he were privy councillor 2 of them both ; while he 
sings of Henry, who king and priest as well, united in firm 
wedlock either rose. 3 

But such strains are by far too lofty for our Muse. 4 Let 
not unhappy Granta 5 know them, but the court. 6 But since 
Granta moved her breasts to lips so eminent, she hath a right, 
thou mighty fosterling, to thy praise. She hath a right to 
quench the melancholy fires with her tears, a right to snatch 
thee from the mid-pyre. Yet, after all, our Muse can bring 
thee no encomium ; thou thyself art singer 7 and singest, there- 

1 i. e. the Manor. 

2 A secretis = ' privy councillor ' (Geheimrat) just as ab epistulis = ' scribe ' 

— as Meurer (p. Ill) well remarks. 

8 Alluding to Bacon's History of Henry VII. 

* An unexpected touch of Horatian modesty (C. iii. 3, end). 

6 Another name for the Cam ; here denotes the University of Cam- 
bridge. 

6 i. e. this touching lay is too sad a strain for Bacon's alma mater : let the 

court sing, let lamentation turn to eulogy. 

7 Not necessarily 'poet.' Bacon 'sings' the history of Henry VII. 

(v. nine lines above). 



[88] 

fore, thine own praise. Notwithstanding we will sing thy 
praise with whatsoever art we can : and if art fail, this grief 

will still be eulogy. 

Thomas Kandolph, T. C. 
(i. e. of Trinity College). 



Italics in Latin text follow Blackbourne, Works of Bacon, 
London, 1730, vol. i. pp. 204-217. 



FINIS. 



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